Window Transparency When Out-of-Focus
 

OK, so, I know there a lots of little apps for Windows XP which allow you to manually set a window to have some degree of transparency. What I'm looking for is an app which will automatically set ALL out-of-focus (inactive) windows to be transparent. I want to automatically only have the window I am using be opaque.

Anyone know of an app for XP that does that?

Old age?

AlphaXPAllows you to set your transparency for each window and it keeps it, but you have to always set it for each new application you have open.

Thanks, although I was hoping to find something more automatic. Guess maybe it's just not out there :|

How about this: what about windows shadows, a la OS X? Something where the active window has a shadow which "raises" it above the other windows? I'd MUCH prefer transparency, but I'll settle for what I can get at this point.

I think WindowBlinds will do it in the paid version. I think, as in I don't have the paid version.

I acquired a copy of Windowblinds and couldn't find anything to do that :(

It's strange...there are something like 20 billion programs for Windows XP to allow you to manually set a window's transparency, and 5 billion of those will even remember the transparency, but there doesn't seem to be a single one that will do it automatically based on whether the window is active or not! :grumpy:

For now, I'm using Y'z Shadow which can give windows a different shadow based on whether or not it is active. It's neat, but it doesn't address the reason I was looking for this app in the first place. I want inactive windows to "fade away" so that, for the most part, the only thing grabbing my attention is the window I'm using. Is that so much to ask? :(

Funny how things sometimes show up when someone asks. Here's one that claims to do it.

ReallyActuallyTrulySeriouslyTripleDogTransparentWindows,Honest

nice name

It couldn't be free, could it? I guess beggars can't be choosers.

Well, it does do it. Sadly, it's a little buggy. Sometimes, when I click on a window it won't become opaque again, forcing me to go into te programs settings and reapply them. And by sometimes, I mean often. At least someone's working on it though.

It's funny,I had the same idea yesterday and found this:
FocusAlpha http://www.marcandre.info/focusalpha.php

It's free and seems stable, but messes up other apps that have their own transparency settings.

Regards,
Magwah

Found this on lifehacker - http://lifehacker.com/software/distr...ows-245774.php

Still beta!

I ran across this a few years ago when I was looking for a way to force a window to always be on top. Its called Auto Hotkey and is very powerful. It is basically a scripting platform where you can write scripts to handle transparency resizing, moving and all kinds of other things. Not sure if it will do exactly what you are looking for but it may come close.

http://www.autohotkey.com/

Macade